From:Edward Henry
To:City Council
Cc:Matt Downing
Subject:Agenda item #12.E
Date:Monday, July 17, 2023 8:49:06 AM
External Email
July 17, 2023
Reference Agenda item #12.E for July 18 meeting
To the City Council,
As most of you are aware, our neighborhood has been severely negatively impacted for the last 1 and ½ years by an illegal yet permitted STR. Fortunately, the City finally took action and revoked the permit as of May 31, 2023. Our experience highlights the difficult task of properly enforcing the City Code due to manpower and logistical challenges. Although this permit was revoked, we still have evidence that this property has been operated as an STR even after the permit was revoked.
When you are considering new rules, we urge you to take the action to ban all STRs in Pismo Beach moving forward. Existing STRs could be grandfathered in, but no new permits should be issued. The Staff report reveals that there are almost 2800 hotel/motel/RV/camping availabilities every day. The last Pismo Beach census that we have seen indicates that our population is approximately 8,000, and the number of housing units is approximately 6,000.. That means that the ratio of available places for visitors to stay is roughly 46% of our housing units. There certainly is not a lack of overnight accommodations for our visitors. In our neighborhood, there are over 300 hotel rooms available within less than ½ mile every night for out-of-town visitors. Where is the need for additional STRs? The two latest new developments in our area are banning STRs in their HOAs. There is a strong demand for real residential neighborhoods, and the City Council should recognize this.
The full time residents of Pismo Beach love our visitors. We share our parks, beaches, restaurants, grocery stores, and local businesses with our visitors. Why can’t we also have designated residential areas of the City where we can have real neighborhoods and not transient operations? Is that too much to ask? This was the case up until a few years ago, and the system worked well..
If you don’t ban new STRs going forward, there will continue to be problems with bad actors like we have experienced. The situation will only get worse since proper enforcement of the rules will be difficult if not impossible to accomplish.
We should not fear working with the Coastal Commission for their approval. A strong case can be made that there are more than enough overnight accommodations available for visitors throughout the City without the need for additional STRs. We might have more availability as a percentage than any other coastal city in California. More STRs will also have the negative impact of reducing the housing stock for full-time workers and other residents looking for permanent housing.
Thank you for your attention and consideration of our views.
Sincerely,
Edward and Christine Henry
117 N. Silver Shoals Dr.
Pismo Beach, CA 93449